1.
International Formula 3000
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Formula Two had become too expensive, and was dominated by works-run cars with factory engines, the hope was that Formula 3000 would offer quicker, cheaper, more open racing. The series began as a specification, then tyres were standardized from 1986 onwards, followed by engines. The series ran annually until 2004, and was replaced in 2005 by the GP2 Series, Formula 3000 replaced Formula Two, and was so named because the engines used were limited to 3000cc maximum capacity. Initially, the Cosworth DFV was a choice, having been made obsolete in Formula One by the adoption of 1.5 litre turbocharged engines. The rules permitted any 90-degree V8 engine, fitted with a rev-limiter to keep power output under control, as well as the Cosworth, a Honda engine based on an Indy V8 by John Judd also appeared, a rumoured Lamborghini V8 never raced. In later years, a Mugen-Honda V8 became the thing to have, eclipsing the DFV, costs, not unlike the senior series, were getting out of control. The first chassis from March, AGS and Ralt were developments of their existing 1984 Formula Two designs, although Lolas entry was based on and looked very much like an IndyCar. The form book was rewritten in 1988 with the entry of the ambitious Reynard marque with a new chassis. Dallara briefly tried the series before moving up to Formula One, at least one unraced F3000 chassis existed—the Wagner fitted with a straight-six short-stroke BMW. This was converted into a car, however. The series was not without controversy, definitive rules for the 1985 season did not appear until the championship was well under way. In 1987 questions were asked about the ability of some of the drivers, in 1989 the eligibility of the new Reynard chassis was challenged - it was raced with a different nose to the one that had been crash tested. This season also saw problems with driver changes - the cost of F3000 was escalating to the point that teams were finding it difficult to run drivers for a whole season. A badly implemented two driver changes per car per season rule meant that cars had to sit idle while drivers with budgets could not race them. In 1991 the performance of some Italian teams attracted attention - they had started using Agips jungle juice Formula One fuel, worth an estimated 15 bhp—giving their drivers a significant advantage. Formula 3000 races during the open chassis era tended to be of about 100–120 miles in distance, held at major circuits, the jewel in the crown of the F3000 season was traditionally the Pau Grand Prix street race, rivalled for a few years by the Birmingham round. Most major circuits in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, in 1996, new rules introduced a single engine and chassis, to go along with tyre standardization introduced in 1986. The following year the calendar was combined with that of Formula One, the series grew dramatically through the late nineties, reaching an entry of nearly 40 cars - although this in itself was problematic as it meant many drivers failed to qualify
2.
1999 International Formula 3000 Championship
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The 1999 International Formula 3000 Championship featured the 1999 FIA Formula 3000 International Championship which was an FIA sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Formula 3000 racing cars. The title was contested over a series from 1 May to 25 September 1999. This was the first F3000 season in which every International Championship race took place during a Formula One weekend, the following drivers and teams took part in the 1999 FIA Formula 3000 International Championship. A Lola B99/50 chassis powered by a Zytek V8 engine was mandatory for all entries, starting in, all International Formula 3000 were held in Formula One Grand Prix. For every race points were awarded,10 points to the winner,6 for runner-up,4 for third place,3 for fourth place,2 for fifth place and 1 for sixth place. All drivers used Lola B99/50 chassis, with Zytek V8 engines, marc Goossens was disqualified from the Hungarian round of the championship due to an illegal suspension damper
3.
2001 International Formula 3000 Championship
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The 2001 International Formula 3000 season was the 17th season of FIA Formula 3000 motor racing. Each entry used a Lola B99/50 chassis powered by a Zytec engine, all races were shortened from 205 km to 150 km. All drivers used Lola B99/50 chassis, with Zytek V8 engines, the official FIA Championship Classification also allocated championship positions to a further 17 drivers who had each scored zero points. 2001 Euro Formula 3000 season Automobile Year, 2001/20022001 Race Results Retrieved from www. teamdan. com on 7 September 2009
4.
Bruno Junqueira
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Bruno Junqueira is a Brazilian race car driver that most recently competed in the IRL IndyCar Series. He is a former Formula 3000 champion and three-time runner-up in the Champ Car World Series, Junqueira started racing karts in Brazil and dominated Formula Three Sudamericana before moving to Formula 3000. He tested for the Williams Formula One team for many years and he rebounded from this setback, winning that years International Formula 3000 Championship. In 2003 Ganassi left to the rival Indy Racing League and Junqueira joined Newman/Haas Racing and he captured series runner up honors in both 2003 and 2004, capturing two wins in each of those seasons. He also drove in the Indianapolis 500 four times for both Ganassi and Newman/Haas in one-off appearances, in 2002, he qualified for the pole position, and he twice finished 5th in the race. In 2005, Junqueira was injured in an accident in the Indianapolis 500, due to his injuries, he missed the remainder of the 2005 Champ Car season. Junqueira was the Champ Car points leader at the time, having won the race of the year in Monterrey. Veteran Oriol Servia took his place and finished runner-up in the standings and he was replaced in the second Newman/Haas car in 2007 by rookie Graham Rahal and Junqueira signed to drive for Dale Coyne Racing as teammate to the inexperienced Katherine Legge. Junquiera finished seventh in the championship including three podium finishes late in the season. Prior to the 2008 Indycar Series Season, Champ Car unified with the rival Indy Racing League, Junqueira drove the #18 car for the Coyne teams first season in the new series, alongside Brazilian rookie countryman Mario Moraes. His Indianapolis 500 was ruined by a falling off, causing him to lose three laps during repairs. His season was not a success, as he finished 20th overall with only two top ten finishes, both on road courses. He was out of a drive for 2009, foyt, he qualified his car for the 500 in nineteenth position, only to once again have to give up his chance to drive in the actual race. Foyt sold the cars entry to Andretti Autosport, whose driver Ryan Hunter-Reay had been the final car bumped from the field. In 2012, he entered in for an injured Josef Newgarden at the first Grand Prix of Baltimore, * Includes points scored by other Team Brazil drivers. ^ New points system implemented in 2004
5.
Super Nova Racing
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Super Nova Racing was a British racing team that has competed in Formula 3000/GP2 and the A1 Grand Prix series. Super Nova first entered racing in 1991, Super Nova was a new incarnation of the pre-existing David Sears Motorsport, sponsored by the Nova chain of Japanese English schools and also ran the Danish Den Blå Avis outfit. On 24 June 2008, President Saruhashi of the Nova chain of English schools was taken into police custody, in August 2009, Saruhashi was convicted and sentenced to a 42-month jail term. In February 2012, it was announced that Super Nova would withdraw from the GP2 Series and they were replaced by the Italian team Lazarus. On 1 July 2014 Super Nova announced that it will be competing in the FIA Formula E Championship under the Trulli GP name, † These drivers raced for more than one team during the season. Their final position includes results for all teams, notes,1. ^ - Andy Soucek scored 1 of his 14 points in 2 races for David Price Racing. 2. ^ - Luca Filippi also scored 45 points for Scuderia Coloni in 8 races, † These drivers also drove for other teams during the season and final place include all results. † These drivers also drove for other teams during the season and they have competed for all seasons in A1 Grand Prix since series debuts in 2005-06, fielding entries for both A1 Team Germany and A1 Team Pakistan and later for A1 Team New Zealand. In 2006-07, the both managed team, Germany and New Zealand finishing 1st and 2nd in the Championship overall
6.
Fernando Alonso
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Fernando Alonso Díaz audio is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a double World Champion who is currently racing for McLaren-Honda. He is often regarded as one of the greatest Formula One drivers, born in Oviedo, the capital of the autonomous region of Asturias, Alonso started in karting from the age of 3. He won three consecutive karting championships in Spain from 1994 to 1997, and he became world karting champion in 1996 and he made his Formula One debut in the 2001 season with Minardi, and then moved to the Renault team as a test driver the next year. Starting in 2003 Alonso then became one of the drivers of the team. On 25 September 2005, he won the Formula One World Drivers Championship title at the age of 24 years and 58 days, after retaining the title the following year, Alonso also became the youngest double Champion at the time. He joined McLaren in 2007, before returning to Renault for two seasons in 2008 and 2009, for the 2010 season, he joined Scuderia Ferrari. His strongest title challenges were in 2010 and 2012, finishing both seasons just adrift of title winner Sebastian Vettel and he left Ferrari at the end of the 2014 season, two years prior to the original expiry of his contract. Nicknamed El Nano, a pseudonym for Fernando in Asturias, his place of birth. With his fourth-place finish in the 2013 Japanese Grand Prix, scoring his 1, 571st career point, however, the record has once again been broken by Sebastian Vettel at the 2015 Italian Grand Prix. As of January 2016, Alonso is the only Spanish driver to have won a Formula One Grand Prix and is the driver with the sixth highest number of Grand Prix wins, Fernando Alonso was born in Oviedo, Asturias in northern Spain. His mother worked in a department store and his father was employed as a mechanic in a factory near Oviedo. Alonso has a sister, Lorena. Alonsos father José Luis, a kart racer, wanted to pass on his passion to his children. He built a kart, originally meant for eight-year-old Lorena, but unlike her three-year-old brother, Alonso attended the Holy Guardian Angel Primary School in Oviedo until he was 14 when he later attended the Institute Leopoldo Alas Clarín of San Lazaro. He dropped out in 2000 as his commitment to motor racing prevented him from further studying, Alonso lived in Oxford, England until he moved his residence to Switzerland in 2006. Alonso owned a house in Mont-sur-Rolle, near Lake Geneva from 2006 to 2010 and it is highly common for Formula One stars to take up residence in Switzerland to reduce their tax bills. In the winter of 2010–11, Alonso moved back to Oviedo in order to be closer to friends and family, Alonso married Raquel del Rosario, lead singer of Spanish pop band El Sueño de Morfeo, on 17 November 2006. They announced their intention to divorce in December 2011, in mid-2012, Alonso started dating Russian model Dasha Kapustina
7.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
8.
West Competition
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West Competition was a team in the FIA Formula 3000 Championship, run by the McLaren Formula One team as part of their driver development programme. Named after McLarens then sponsor, West, the team was active for the three seasons between 1998 and 2000, earning numerous wins as well as the 1999 drivers and teams title with Nick Heidfeld. The overhaul of the Formula 3000 series in 1996 attracted a number of Formula 1 teams wishing to establish junior teams. West Competition fell firmly into the category, run by former Williams race engineer David Brown. His work with the McLarens F1 team lasted only a year, many of the team went on to further success within motor racing and the automotive industry. Engineer Ian Morgan is now Chief Engineer at Red Bull Racing, No.1 mechanic Mark Grain is now Race Support Group Manager at McLaren Racing. No.1 mechanic Mehtin Afiya is head of Vehicle Production at McLaren Automotive, no2 mechanic Jonathan Brookes is now No.1 mechanic to Jenson Button at McLaren Racing. Engineer Stephano Sordo is now a senior aerodynamisist at Red Bull Racing, no2 mechanic Matthew Carter is now a transmission designer at McLaren Racing. No2 Maurizio Zagarella is now European dealer network liaison at McLaren Automotive, the team began racing in 1998, with then McLaren test-driver Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Minassian driving. Heidfeld was quickly on the pace, qualifying and finishing second on his first outing, over the season, he would win three races, qualify on pole for one more and challenge Juan Pablo Montoya for the title. He eventually finished second overall, scoring 58 points to Montoyas 65, by contrast, Minassian had a poor season, scoring just 5 points all year. He was replaced by Bas Leinders for the race at the Nürburgring. Even though Leinders had qualified 19th, he did not take the start of the race in order to give Heidfeld a chance at winning the title after being pushed down the grid for fuel irregularities. West Competition retained Nick Heidfeld for 1999 and brought in Brazilian Mario Haberfeld to replace Minassian who moved on to the new Kid Jensen Racing team. Heidfeld won at winning at Imola, Catalunya, Magny-Cours and the A1-Ring and his domination of the series was reflected on his winning margin to champsionship runner-up Jason Watt, with Heidfeld amassing 59 points to Watts 30. Haberfeld fared less well, just as Minassian had before him and his season would see him fail to qualify five times and retire a further three times. On the two occasions he did finish, it was out of the points, meaning that he finished the season without a classification in the championship. With champion Heidfeld leaving for the Prost F1 team at the end of his year, West Competition signed Stéphane Sarrazin
9.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
10.
South Africa
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South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and it is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, the remaining population consists of Africas largest communities of European, Asian, and multiracial ancestry. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a variety of cultures, languages. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the recognition of 11 official languages. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup détat, however, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to recover its rights from the dominant white minority, with this struggle playing a role in the countrys recent history. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation, since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have held political representation in the countrys democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the Rainbow Nation to describe the multicultural diversity. The World Bank classifies South Africa as an economy. Its economy is the second-largest in Africa, and the 34th-largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa. However, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed, nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence. The name South Africa is derived from the geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation the country was named the Union of South Africa in English, since 1961 the long form name in English has been the Republic of South Africa. In Dutch the country was named Republiek van Zuid-Afrika, replaced in 1983 by the Afrikaans Republiek van Suid-Afrika, since 1994 the Republic has had an official name in each of its 11 official languages. Mzansi, derived from the Xhosa noun umzantsi meaning south, is a name for South Africa. South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human fossil sites in the world, extensive fossil remains have been recovered from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has termed the Cradle of Humankind
11.
Tomas Scheckter
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Tomas Scheckter is a South African former racing driver. Scheckter was born in Monte Carlo to 1979 Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter, Scheckter started racing karts in South Africa at the age of 11 and it did not take long for the young driver to reach the podium. He had his first taste of a championship as a teenager when he captured the South African Kart Championship in 1995. In 1996 he ventured on to the circuit in the South African Formula Vee series. Scheckter earned third in the championship with one victory and one pole and he was also named series Rookie of the Year. That success landed him a drive that same year in the last two races of the Formula Nissan championship which Fernando Alonso had dominated that whole season. Even though Scheckter was with a new team for this stint in Formula Nissan, he captured a win. He also had time to race in the prestigious Marlboro Masters F3 race at Zandvoort where he took the podium position. To complete his year, he competed in the four races of the FIA Formula 3000 Championship. He also raced in the Open Telefónica by Nissan, finishing as championship runner-up, Scheckter was signed as a test/reserve driver by Jaguar for the 2001 Formula One season, but was soon let go after being found curb crawling. Scheckter was signed to drive for Eddie Cheevers Red Bull Cheever Racing in the IndyCar Series for the 2002 season and he was the Indianapolis 500 co-Rookie of the year after leading 85 laps of the race. However, Cheever soon grew tired of Scheckters frequent crashes, at Michigan International Speedway, Cheever was forced to race Scheckter due to contractual obligations, but gave Rice the best equipment and crew. In a memorable race, Scheckter beat Rice by inches for his first IRL win, however, he was soon gone from Cheever Racing. In 2003 he moved to Target Ganassi Racing with mixed results, in 2004 he moved to Panther Racing to replace double champion Sam Hornish, Jr. In 2004 and 2005 Scheckter and Panther were the dominant Chevrolet powered team, Scheckter broke through a horrendous string of bad luck, defeating Hornish to win the Bombardier Learjet 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2005 for his second career victory. In mid-2005, Scheckter was announced as one of the drivers for A1 Team South Africa in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix series and he raced in the rounds at EuroSpeedway Lausitz and Estoril. In 2006, Scheckter drove for Tony George and Patrick Dempseys Vision Racing alongside teammate Ed Carpenter, in 2007 Scheckter again raced for Vision Racing sponsored by Joost. He ultimately finished 10th in points for the season in a row with a best finish of 5th
12.
Czech Republic
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The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with mostly temperate continental climate and it is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the territories of Bohemia, Moravia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire, after the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Roman Catholicism, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup détat, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence, in 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed, on 6 March 1990, the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, it is a member of the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, and it is a developed country with an advanced, high income economy and high living standards. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development, the Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, the traditional English name Bohemia derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii. The current name comes from the endonym Čech, spelled Cžech until the reform in 1842. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning member of the people, kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk. The country has traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the southeast, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself without a common single-word geographical name in English, the name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
13.
Nicolas Minassian
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Nicolas Minassian is a French professional racing driver of Armenian descent. He then moved to the British series for two years in a successful partnership with Promatecme and Renault UK that yielded a 4th place in 1996. He graduated to Formula 3000 with West Competition for 1998, the following year, he moved to Kid Jensen Racing where he enjoyed more success, including an emphatic lights-to-flag triumph at Silverstone. He signed for the illustrious Super Nova Racing team in 2000 where he came a strong 2nd in the championship. In 2002 Minassian won the ASCAR oval racing series for RML before returning to endurance racing including the 24 Hours of Le Mans for such teams as Creation Autosportif and Pescarolo Sport. In 2007 he became a driver for the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP diesel Le Mans prototype in the European Le Mans Series. In 2008 he drove the Peugeot 908 diesel Le Mans prototype in the European Le Mans Series and he competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Peugeot 908. + Not Eligible for points Official Website
14.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
15.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
16.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
17.
Marc Goossens
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Marc Goossens nicknamed The Goose is a Belgian professional racing driver who drove in Formula 3000 from 1994 to 1996 and part-time from 1999 to 2001. In between he drove in races and is a veteran of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. From 2002 to 2005 he then raced in FIA GT and he also finished 9th in his first NASCAR Busch Series start at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in 2006 for Robert Yates Racing. He made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in August at Watkins Glen International but crashed out and he made another Cup start in 2007 in Infineon Raceway. He was running well until a mechanical failure dropped him to 36th, Goossens holds the record of four wins in Zolder 24 Hours race along with Vincent Dupont and Anthony Kumpen. In 2012 he was hired by the Chrysler Corporations SRT Motorsports racing team to drive Vipers in the American Le Mans Series, official website Marc Goossens driver statistics at Racing-Reference Career summary on Driver Database
18.
Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
19.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
20.
Andrea Piccini
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Andrea Piccini is an Italian racing driver, currently competing in the FIA GT1 World Championship for Hexis AMR. Piccini began his single seater career in 1994, when he began competing in go-kart races, in 1997, he started competing in Formula Opel Europe. He finished third in the 1998 standings and he went on to race in International Formula 3000 in 1999 up until 2001, picking up only six points in the three seasons. In 2001, he was signed as a test driver for the European Minardi Formula One, after a disappointing single-seater career, he went on to race in sports car racing. In 2003, he was signed by Lister Racing to compete in the FIA GT Championship and he picked up three podiums for the team along with Swiss co-driver Jean-Denis Délétraz. He was signed by Aston Martin Racing in 2006 who wanted to race their new GT1-spec DBR9 and he raced two rounds of the American Le Mans Series, scoring in one of those events, being round five. He then went on to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and finished second in the GT1 class with team mates Tomáš Enge and he reunited with his 2003 FIA GT team mate Jean-Denis Délétraz for the 2006 season. They raced for Phoenix Racing who ran a DBR9, Piccini finished third in the championship, taking a win at the final round of the season. 2007 was a quieter year for Piccini, he did not race at Le Mans or in ALMS but did contest the FIA GT. His team mate was reigning FIA GT co-champion Andrea Bertolini, the pair finished fifth place with only one win during the season. In 2008, Piccini raced six of the ten rounds of the FIA GT Championship, four races in the GT1 class for RBlmmo Racing and two in the GT2 class for CR Scuderia Racing. He did not earn a point for RBlmmo Racing but finished in good points scoring places for CR Scuderia, finishing fourth at the Spa 24 Hours and he was called upon again by Aston Martin Racing to compete at the years 24 Hours of Le Mans. He managed to finish the #007 car fourth place in class with team mates Heinz-Harald Frentzen. He moved on from FIA GT and in 2009, he raced for Italian team Racing Box in the Le Mans Series and he was joined by fellow Italian compatriots and former FIA GT champions Matteo Bobbi and Thomas Biagi for the season. They picked up a win in the opening round at Catalunya. Piccini finished fifth in the standings, Racing Box then entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the same car but unfortunately retired after 203 laps. 2010 saw Piccini contest only the first two rounds of the Le Mans Series season for Racing Box, before returning to GT racing in the form of the FIA GT1 World Championship. He was reunited with Phoenix Racing who he raced with in FIA GT in 2006 and he contested three of the ten rounds, earning an impressive podium finish at the opening round in Abu Dhabi alongside Mike Hezemans
21.
Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
22.
Helmut Marko
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Helmut Marko LL. D. is an advisor to the Red Bull GmbH Formula One Teams and head of Red Bulls driver development program. Himself a former racing driver, Marko was a friend of Jochen Rindt. Marko competed in race series, including 10 Formula One Grands Prix in 1971 and 1972. He had more success in racing, winning the 197124 Hours of Le Mans. During that year, they set a record which remained unbeaten until the 201024 Hours of Le Mans. His fastest lap in the Alfa Romeo 33 was 33 min 41 sec, Marko became a doctor of law in 1967. He owns two hotels in Graz – the Schlossberghotel and Augartenhotel, from 1999 he has also overseen the Red Bull driver development programme, which has steered drivers such as Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen into Formula One. Since 2005 he has been advisor to the Red Bull Racing Formula One team
23.
Enrique Bernoldi
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He entered IndyCar racing in 2008, and competed in the FIA GT World Championship between 2009 and 2011, in addition to entering multiple other competitions. Bernoldi started out in karting in 1986, and won regional and national titles. He entered the Formula Alfa Boxer series in Italy, where he finished fourth in his first race. Following a successful entry in the Championnat de France Formule Renault, Bernoldi then entered the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and won on his debut. The following year he took in nine victories and the title, Bernoldi took his first victory at Spa en route to fifth in the championship, and also finished third at that years Macau Grand Prix. He remained with Promatecme for 1998 to take six more victories, in 1999, Bernoldi progressed to the International Formula 3000 championship with the Red Bull Junior Team. Although his debut season only resulted in two points, he was retained by the team for the following year. Due to the links with Sauber, he tested for the Formula 1 team in both seasons, in addition to also testing for the Prost GP team in 2000. Although touted before the start of the 2001 season to be joining either Prost, Minardi or Sauber, Bernoldi instead signed a contract with Arrows, during 2001, Bernoldi performed respectably for the Arrows team, occasionally matching his more experienced teammate Jos Verstappen for pace. Bernoldi was defended by his team boss Tom Walkinshaw, whom hit back at McLaren and he failed to score any points in 2001, with 10 retirements from 17 starts, his highest finish being an eighth at the German Grand Prix. Despite Verstappen being the only Arrows driver to score points in 2001, Bernoldi was retained by Arrows for 2002, due to serious financial problems, Arrows were forced to withdraw three-quarters of the way into the 2002 season. He subsequently switched to the World Series by Nissan, after a drive for Jordan Grand Prix failed to materialize. In his debut season in the World Series by Nissan, Bernoldi finished sixth in the championship and he also participated in a mega test, held by Alfa Romeo, with a prospect of driving for the team in the 2004 European Touring Car Championship season. Despite this test, he continued in the World Series in 2004, in mid-2004 he was named a test driver for BAR, completing two tests at the Circuito de Jerez in Spain, in order to prevent the regular BAR drivers having to make several long-distance trips. He remained with the team after these sessions, also undertaking tests of BARs Concept Car, although he impressed in Champ Car during a test for Rocketsports, his solitary race during 2006 came in Argentinas TC2000 series. In 2007, Bernoldi competed in the Stock Car Brasil, competing in 11 of the 12 races and finishing 13th in the championship, for 2008 Bernoldi, signed a contract with Rocketsports for the 2008 Champ Car World Series. However, following the reunification of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League, Rocketsports withdrew, opting not to compete in the new, combined and it was later announced that Bernoldi would drive for Conquest Racing in the newly combined series 2008 season. His best result was fourth, in the final Champ Car-sanctioned race at Long Beach and his best result in the reunified IndyCar Series was fifteenth at the 2008 Indianapolis 500
24.
Justin Wilson (racing driver)
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Justin Boyd Wilson was a British professional open-wheel racing driver. At the time of his death, Wilson was competing part-time in the IndyCar Series, earlier, he competed in the Champ Car series from 2004 to 2007, scoring four wins. He also competed in Formula One in the 2003 season with Minardi and he was also a winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona. On 23 August 2015, Wilson suffered a brain injury in an accident at the Pocono Raceway. Wilson was struck in the head by debris from the crash of race leader Sage Karams car. Brought up in the hamlet of Woodall, near Harthill, South Yorkshire. In 1998, he was a finalist in the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award, a year later, he graduated to the FIA International Formula 3000 championship and won the championship in 2001, setting a record winning margin in the process. Despite his success, his height proved a liability, and prevented him securing a Formula One drive for 2002. He found a drive in the Telefónica World Series by Nissan, Wilson also tested for the Minardi Formula One team, but although regular driver Alex Yoong was replaced for two rounds, Wilson was unable to race the car due to his height. For 2003, Minardi designed the car around Wilsons 6 ft 4 in frame, the car was off the pace but Wilson performed favourably against his more experienced teammate, Jos Verstappen. He switched to Jaguar Racing to replace Antônio Pizzonia for the last five races of the season, and scored his first championship point at the United States Grand Prix. Christian Klien, who was funded by Austrian drink company Red Bull, at the beginning of 2004, Wilson joined the Champ Car World Series with Mi-Jack Conquest Racing. He qualified as high as second in his season and finished the year in 11th place in the standings. In 2005, Wilson moved to the RuSPORT team to partner with A. J. Allmendinger and he won his first Champ Car race at Toronto. Continuing with his success in Canada, Wilson finished third at Montreal, Wilson finished the season in third place in the drivers standings behind series champion Sébastien Bourdais and second-placed Oriol Servia. Wilson stayed with RuSPORT for the 2006 season, and finished second in the series, on 19 October 2006, in the Friday qualifying for the Surfers Paradise race, Wilson hit a small barrier of tyres in a chicane. When the front wheels lurched sideways after the impact, the wheel spun sharply in Wilsons hands. For 2007, Wilson was signed on a contract with RSPORTS
25.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
26.
Marc Hynes
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Marc Hynes is a British racing driver, currently driving for Quantel Bifold Racing. with Triple Eight Race Engineering in the British Touring Car Championship. He won the 1995 British Formula Vauxhall Junior title and the 1997 British Formula Renault title and he then stepped up to Formula 3 and won the 1999 British Formula 3 Championship for Manor Motorsport beating Luciano Burti and Jenson Button into second and third places respectively. He competed in three rounds of the 2000 International Formula 3000 season for the WRT team and he has also tested for the Formula One team British American Racing. He has also worked as a coach for his former team Manor Motorsport. He is now Head of Driver Development at Marussia F1, the Formula One team born out of Manor Motorsport, Races in bold indicate pole position Races in italics indicate fastest lap * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap * Season still in progress
27.
Soheil Ayari
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Soheil Ayari is a French-Iranian race car driver born in Aix-les-Bains, Savoie, from an Iranian father and a French mother. He won the French Formula Ford championship of 1994, Formula Three championship of 1996, from 1997 until 2000, he competed in Formula 3000 where he won two races before moving on to the French Supertouring Championship in 2001 where he became champion in 2002,2004 and 2005. In 2006 and 2007, he drove in GT Championship, in GT1 for Team Oreca and he became French champion in 2006 &2007 and won the European Le Mans séries championship in 2007 with Stephane Ortelli. In 2008 &2009, he drove a Corvette GT1 in French GT3 championship before joining the Audi ORECA Team in 2010. In 2011, he raced and won 2 Championships, ILMC LMP2 and International Open GT with JMB Ferrari F458 GT2 Soheil Ayari is also a famous 24 Hours of Le Mans driver with 11 starts in GT1, LMP1 & LMP2. Best results over all were 4th in 2004 &2010 ), 5th in 2009 and 2nd LMP2 in 2011
28.
Indonesia
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Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania. Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is the worlds largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands. At 1,904,569 square kilometres, Indonesia is the worlds 14th-largest country in terms of area and worlds 7th-largest country in terms of combined sea. It has an population of over 260 million people and is the worlds fourth most populous country. The worlds most populous island, Java, contains more than half of the countrys population, Indonesias republican form of government includes an elected legislature and president. Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status and its capital and countrys most populous city is Jakarta, which is also the most populous city in Southeast Asia and the second in Asia. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, other neighbouring countries include Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the second highest level of biodiversity. The country has abundant natural resources like oil and natural gas, tin, copper, agriculture mainly produces rice, palm oil, tea, coffee, cacao, medicinal plants, spices and rubber. Indonesias major trading partners are Japan, United States, China, the Indonesian archipelago has been an important region for trade since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Indonesia consists of hundreds of native ethnic and linguistic groups. The largest – and politically dominant – ethnic group are the Javanese, a shared identity has developed, defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesias national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, articulates the diversity that shapes the country, Indonesias economy is the worlds 16th largest by nominal GDP and the 8th largest by GDP at PPP, the largest in Southeast Asia, and is considered an emerging market and newly industrialised country. Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950, Indonesia is a member of the G20 major economies and World Trade Organization. The name Indonesia derives from the Greek name of the Indós, the name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, in the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. However, Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia, they preferred Malay Archipelago, the Netherlands East Indies, popularly Indië, the East, and Insulinde
29.
DAMS
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DAMS is an auto racing team from France, involved in many areas of motorsport. DAMS was founded in 1988 by Jean-Paul Driot and former Formula One driver René Arnoux and it is headquartered near Le Mans, only 2 km from the Bugatti Circuit. Notable DAMS drivers include Érik Comas, Allan McNish, Olivier Panis, Jean-Christophe Boullion, Sébastien Bourdais, Kazuki Nakajima, Romain Grosjean, the year after its foundation, DAMS joined the International Formula 3000 Championship. They stayed in F3000 until 2001, DAMS were one of many French teams that were part of the Elf young driver sponsorship program. Aside from F3000, DAMS planned to join the F1 World Championship in 1996, with a car developed by Reynard, DAMS enter in sports car racing since 1997 until 2002 where it helped the Michel Vaillant movie, preparing and racing cars in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team competed in the GP2 Series since its beginning in 2005, winning races with drivers José María López, DAMS was associated with the Toyota Drivers Program from 2006 to 2009, and ran their drivers in the GP2 Series. In 2006, it was Franck Perera and then Kazuki Nakajima in 2007, following this he won a full-time race seat with the team for 2008 and was retained for the 2009 season. In 2008, TDP driver Kamui Kobayashi replaced Nakajima at DAMS GP2, Kobayashi stayed on in 2009, and was partnered by Jérôme dAmbrosio for these two years. Neither driver was able to put together a consistent run of form in the main GP2 Series championships, DAmbrosio remained with the team for 2010, and was paired with Ho-Pin Tung, who replaced the Sauber-bound Kobayashi. DAmbrosio won the sprint race at Monaco, but his form thereafter was disappointing and he was rested for one of the rounds in favour of Romain Grosjean, another driver with Renault F1 links. Grosjean later got the opportunity to move into the team full-time when Tung, yet to score a point after 12 races, DAmbrosio, Grosjean and Tung finished 12th, 14th and 28th respectively in the drivers championship, whilst DAMS finished sixth position in the teams championship. Grosjean remained with the team for 2011, with Norwegian rookie Pål Varhaug replacing DAmbrosio, DAMS retained its links with Renault, although these were somewhat diluted by the F1 teams new sponsorship deal with Lotus Cars, which also backed the rival ART team in GP2. Grosjean dominated the year, winning both the Asian and main series championships, DAMS also won the Asian teams title, but Varhaugs failure to score points in the main series saw the team beaten to the championship by Addax. Between them, Valsecchi and Nasr scored enough points to win DAMSs first GP2 Teams Championship, six ahead of ART. The team wrapped up both the 2014 Drivers and Teams Championships, with Jolyon Palmer winning the former, DAMS went into the 2015 season with Red Bull Junior Team driver Pierre Gasly and 2014 GP3 champion Alex Lynn as their driver lineup. Both drivers finished outside the points in the following sprint race. The team had a weekend in Barcelona, with Lynn taking his first GP2 victory in the sprint race. In the 2003 and 2004 seasons, DAMS took part in the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, in 2005 the team entered the World Series by Renault
30.
Franck Montagny
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Franck Montagny is a French professional racing driver, who is currently suspended from the sport after testing positive for a banned substance. He briefly raced for the Super Aguri Formula One team in 2006, born in Feurs, Loire, Montagny started racing karts there in 1988, winning the cadet class in the French Karting Championship in 1992, and the National 1 class the following year. He made his debut in cars in 1994, aged 16 and he repeated the feat in the Zandvoort Masters in the Netherlands later that year, beating then German Formula Three champion Nick Heidfeld. Montagny moved up to Formula 3000 in 1999, driving for the DAMS team which was falling from its peak by then, One podium finish at the Hungaroring was his main success, he totalled only 6 points and tenth place that season. He however ended the year with success in the Elf Masters Karting at Paris-Bercy, a repeat of his unsuccessful year in Formula 3000 prompted a move to World Series by Nissan in 2001, signing for the Epsilon by Graff team. He won 8 races out of a possible 16, and beat Tomas Scheckter to the championship and he changed teams for 2002 to Racing Engineering, but was beaten into second place in the championship by Ricardo Zonta. He supplemented this with a finish for Oreca at the Le Mans 24 hours. Montagny returned to the World Series by Nissan in 2003 with Gabord Competicion and he did an impressive one-off for Jordan as third driver on the Friday of the 2005 European Grand Prix, clocking a quicker time than Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro, the official Jordan drivers. In mid-2004, as part of his Renault F1 testing duties, Montagny became the chief test and development driver for the new GP2 Series, much of the success of the championship and the drivability of the car has been placed on the development skills of Montagny. Montagny hence competed in his first Grand Prix, the 2006 European Grand Prix on 7 May, qualifying last and retiring with a hydraulics problem. He did not finish his second race 2006 Spanish Grand Prix, after a start, enabling him to gain 3 positions. It was third time lucky for him at the Monaco Grand Prix and he was the first active Formula One driver to also participate at Le Mans in the same year since Bertrand Gachot in 1994. On 12 July, Super Aguri announced that Sakon Yamamoto would replace him from the German Grand Prix onwards, Montagny tested for Toyota F1 in September 2006 at Silverstone. A month later, Toyota confirmed that he would join the team as test driver for the 2007 season, as Olivier Panis, after spending 2007 as a test driver, Montagny left the team after a test at the Circuit de Catalunya in November. He was still interested in gaining a ride in F1, and had linked with the Renault F1 team for the 2010 season. Montagny competed in the final Champ Car World Series race, held at the Long Beach circuit on April 19,2008 and he finished second in his first appearance in a race in the United States, five seconds behind Australian Will Power. In June, he drove the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP at the 200824 Hours of Le Mans and finished in the place with Ricardo Zonta. Montagny made his debut in the American Le Mans Series with Andretti Green Racing at the 2008 Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park in July 2008 and he made his IndyCar Series debut in 2009 at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway with Andretti Green Racing
31.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
32.
Arden International
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Arden International is a multiple formula racing team created and run by Christian Horner, Red Bull Racings F1 team principal. It currently runs teams in the GP2 Series, GP3 Series and it has been competing since 1997 and has raced in the Formula 3000 International Championship, the Italian Formula 3000 series, and the A1 GP series for Great Britain. Luis Leeds, Niko Kari and Dan Ticktum, the team was initially created as a vehicle to enable Horner to race in F3000 in 1997. According to Horner he set the team up with borrowed money, including a loan from his father and he stayed in F3000 for 1998 and was joined at Arden by Kurt Mollekens, who showed good pace and led the championship at one stage. In the winter of 1998 family friend David Richards had been approached by Russian oil company Lukoil to enable them to enter motorsports sponsorship. As entries to F3000 were restricted, Richards agreed a deal with Horner that Prodrive would take a 50% stake in Arden, as a result, the team signed Viktor Maslov as a driver under the Lukoil deal from 1999. The team started off poorly, and didnt have the pace to qualify for many races, at the end of 1999, Richards sold a stake in Prodrive to Apax Partners, who didnt want to continue in F3000. Horner hence exercised the option to buy back the Prodrive stake, the team won the Teams Championship in 2002,2003 and 2004. During those years, Wirdheim won the championship in 2003. During the teams 8 years in the series, it has scored 359 points, won 16 races, the team joined the Italian Formula 3000 series for 1999 and 2000. The team finished with Hughes second in the championship, and the team winning it outright 51 points, Arden operated A1 Team Great Britain in the first season of the A1GP series for 2005-2006. The team fared well in their first season, collecting 8 podium finishes, in 2006, Arden competed in GP2 with Lapierre and the rookie Michael Ammermüller. This year, Arden suffered a significant drop in performance, and had only 57 points to show, overall the team came fourth in the championship. For 2007, Arden signed Bruno Senna, nephew of triple F1 champion Ayrton Senna, Zaugg was replaced for the final round of the season by Filipe Albuquerque. For 2008 and the newly founded Asia Series, the team was renamed Trust Team Arden, the duo of Red Bull Junior Team driver Sébastien Buemi and Yelmer Buurman was its race line-up for both championships. For the Asia Series, Adam Khan raced for the first two rounds before being replaced by Buurman, the overall result in the Asia Series was the team finishing second in the championship, with 50 points and one win, and Buemi finishing second in the drivers championship. Mid-season in the series, Buurman was replaced by ART Grand Prix outcast Luca Filippi. Arden again took part in the Asia Series for the 2008–09 season, signing Luiz Razia and Mika Mäki
33.
Darren Manning
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Darren Manning is an English motor racing driver who has raced in the IRL IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Manning was born in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, and began his career at the age of 10, competing in British. In 1992, he took part in the Brands Hatch Formula First Winter Series and his SpeedSport team took him in 1993 to race in the Formula Vauxhall championship again recording 2 victories en route to a second-place finish in the championship. He was also a finalist for the McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year award and he continued in Formula Vauxhall in 1994 and 1995 and moved up to Formula 3 in 1996 and 1997. Budget constraints meant that he raced a limited F3 schedule in 1998. He also tested with the Williams F1 team, in 2000 he began working for the BAR Honda F1 team as a test driver while also racing in the FIA International Formula 3000 championship for Arden Team Russia. In 2002 he competed in the ASCAR championship and he had a one-off drive in the FIA Sportscar championship at Magny-Cours driving a Tampolli SR2 RTA-2001 in the SR2 class for JCI Developments. He also had a drive at Rockingham in the CART series for Team St George. This led to a drive for Walker Racing in 2003, taking one top-3 finish. During 2006 he also drove a Nissan 350Z in the FIA GT Championship for RJN Motorsport, for the 2006-07 A1 Grand Prix season he moved into a permanent role in the Great Britain A1GP team, alongside Robbie Kerr and Oliver Jarvis. On 14 November 2006, Manning was named the driver of the A. J, Foyt Enterprises No.14 car in the IRL IndyCar series for the 2007 season, marking his return to the league after a one-year absence. Manning also drove in the 200724 Hours of Daytona and led his team to a second-place finish and he finished 13th in IndyCar points in 2007, capturing 5 top-tens in what was widely considered a significant step forward for the previously struggling Foyt team. In 2008 he finished second at Watkins Glen, with six top ten finishes en route to 14th overall. In 2009, he was racing for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in IndyCar, No reason has been given by either driver or team. In 2010 Manning drove for Spirit of Daytona Racing in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in the number 90 Daytona Prototype
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Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
Bruno Junqueira
Stéphane Sarrazin
Silverstone Circuit
Mark Webber
Circuit de Catalunya
Nürburgring
David Saelens
Monaco
Österreichring
Tomáš Enge
Budapest
Tomas Scheckter
André Couto
Kristian Kolby
Christijan Albers
Ananda Mikola
Viktor Maslov
Hidetoshi Mitsusada